St. Paul daily globe., 1887-10-06


those who have already taken upon
themselves the duties and responsible
ties of American citizenship. We
therefore urge upon all the peple of the
republic, and especially upon the farm
ers OF America, that they study dill
gently the great questions of
the hOur-questiOns which are
already pressing upon them for
c0nSlderation-which must soon be
decided for all time to come and upon
which decision depends their own and
their chlldrens' welfare. There has
been confided to this country and to this
generation, a trust more sacred than
any ever entrusted to men. All the re-
suits OF the efforts, the earnest thoughts
and the sacrifices of eight generations
of freemen: who, in their struggles for
the Just rights of man, never took one
backward step-haye been placed in our
keeping. These rights-this political
freedom--this equal law for all, came
not for the asking. Upon the affairs of
liberty which the fathers erected, were
inundated hecatOmbS of patriots.
For freedoms sake they starved
and wasted with sickness-for lib
erty they fought-for the equal
rights of men they made sacrifices such
as no people ever made before. AT last
at the end of the great civil war the con-
stitution and the laws of the United
States and of the several states were
freed from the blemishes and incon-
sistencles which had too long been their
shame and reprOach. Then was enacted
into the fundamental and statute law
what was believed to be the fullest pro-
lection of individual rights. It was the
glory OF that supreme triumph that at
last in America there was equal law for
all. 1t seemed in that day of universal
rejoicing and thanksgiving to Almighty
God for liberty preserved, that there
was nothing more for the American citi-
zen to do except to rejoice in the fullest
freedom, and to transmit that freedom
to pOsterity. The future was without a
cloud
A quarter of century has not yet
passed-the veterans of that great con-
fiict are still in the full vigor of man
ho0d-and now a change has come over
the people-mens hearts are full of
anxiety and dark fOrebOdings. What is
the matter? What has caused this
change from universal confidence in the
future to grave apprehenSiOns and
widespread discomfort? A new power
begins to make its influence felt: a
power unknown to the fathers, and,
consequently, except in general way,
unprOvided for by the laws of the coun,
try. Civilization itself is undergoing a
change more far-reaching in it's effects
upon mankind than any change of
which we have record. The threat
ened conflict of forces which is
perhaps the inevitable result of
this change may we'll fill with apprehen-
sion those who now catch only faint
glimpse of the coming crisis. In this
country the foundation of government
is based upon the principle that all men
shall have equal rights under the law.
There is already upon us a contest for
the preservation of those rights. In this
contest, on one side, are arrayed the
SympathieS with which their traditions
and their blood bought history have
filled the hearts of the American people.
With their sympathieS are also arrayed
the interests of the people-their habits
OF thought, their hopes, their
very liberties. On the other
side are marshaled forces more
rapacious and better Organized
than ever before attacked the rights of
a free people. In our system of gov
ernment, except in national concerns,
the state has always been regarded as
the guardian of the rights of its citi-
ZenS-their sovereign prOtector-su-
preme in its DEGREES, with full power to
enforce its mandates. But this new
power. though creature of the state
dareS to attempt to control the state.
Where its interests are concerned. it
abr0gateS or ignores state boundaries
virtually creating for itself new do
mains. 1t seeks to control it's action
solely for its own interest regardless of
the rights OF the people, although eyery
detail of its policy is of vital Importance
to the welfare of the people whom it eff
fectS and from whom it draws its susie
nance.
The revenues of this new power are
enormous, exceeding in the aggregate
the aggregate revenues of the United
States and all the individual states, to-
gether with the combined revenues of
all the cities, counties, towns and school
districts in the entire country For its
own aggrandizement, this power has
been accustomed to tax the people with
out their consent, and that it may con-
tinue to tax them at will. notwithStand-
ing laws recently enacted for the peo-
ple'S protection, it now, through in
tiuence, sometimes Open-but oftener
hidden, seeks, as far as its interests are
effected, to rule the country. Under
the lead of and in close SYM
pathy with this new, well Or
ganiZed power are also other
forces quietly, but surely at
work tending to produce in America a
new condition of society which, for lack
of any better term, may be denominated
as that OF master and dependent; a
something the very reverse of that
under which the great mass of the peo-
pie have heretofore individually flour
ished while the republic grew great
without, Interfering with the largest
personal liberty. The people are anxious
against them are defiant and threaten
ing. The people are told that because
they are better fed. better clothed and
better housed than their fathers were
fifty years ago, they have no cause of
complaint. Do they who say this
mean that all the benefits, blessings
aud tremendous powers which steam,
electricity and improved machinery
have conferred upon mankind during
the last half-century shall be mainly
mon0poliZed by a few individuals? Is
it indeed enough that people are well
fed, decently clothed and comfortably
housed, while men are dependent upon
the good will, or perhaps the caprice of
another? Are there no other aspirations
among free men? If this is all, the con-
ditiOn of the stalled OK is to be envied.
The men and women who landed at
Plymouth Rock on that cold December
day might have been better fed and
housed had they remained on the other
side of the Atlantic. Yet when in the
early spring, after that fearful winter
the MayfiOwer returned, not one went
back. With their sufferings and. the
new-made graves of one-half their num-
ber, they found on that wild coast also
freedom. The men of 1776 might have
paid the paltry tax which Britain at
tempted wrongfully to levy, but they
would not Do they who are gorged to
repletiOn with the results of Others
labor expect that a free people will con-
tinue tamely to submit while they load
down the country with their fraudulent
or ha